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Mark Lawrence's Reviews > The End
The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #13)
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May I steal the lyrics from the eponymous Door's song?
This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again
The important thing to recognise here is that in a continued move to the meta that Patrick Rothfuss might admire (and even have studied) this is a story about stories.
In order that we not forget this fact/theme (a theme that, incidentally, is probably far too old/advanced for any reader of this series who didn't grow old reading it as it came out) Lemony provides us with essentially no answers to any of the many questions posed in the series.
That's right. You won't for example (view spoiler). Or be presented with the solution to many other puzzles teased throughout the series.
The big reveal is that the books may have stopped ... but the story doesn't. And that when the books started ... that wasn't the start of the story. We've just been afforded a view through a moving window and now the curtains are closing again.
That's not to say that interesting/amusing things don't happen, or that the bizarre altered-reality of the books doesn't saunter on in its usual style. The entire population of an island survive on drinking an alcoholic beverage and never touch water. Trained sheep drag any useful flotsam and jetsam to the far side of the island where nobody ever goes (though they all firmly believe it's an island...)
Count Olaf shines in this book. I particularly love the way he commits to his disguise despite everyone seeing through it. Also how he names the island Olaf-land and is dedicated to being acknowledged as its king.
The story addresses issues of leadership, group dynamics, rebellion etc ... some of it gets quite tedious if I'm honest, but knowing it's the last book gives a following wind that carries you on.
In the last section there are some moments which, by virtue of having spent 13 books in the company of the characters, can't help but be touching - and are.
The main problem for me is, having read all 13 of these books aloud to my disabled daughter, and having developed the perfect Count Olaf voice ... what the hell do I do with it now?
In conclusion I would say that this is an enjoyable series of books for children of a certain age and that if at any point you feel you've had enough of reading them ... just stop there...
All this aside - here is my answer to the following question, posed on this site as an "author question"
Who is your all time favorite villain of the fantasy genre?
- I'll have to go for Count Olaf. Having read all 13 books of the Series of Unfortunate Events to my daughter recently, I have developed the perfect Count Olaf voice and that, I feel, helps me understand the man.
The great thing about Count Olaf is how unabashedly 'all about me' he is. From his outrage on discovering that the thing he'd kicked a hole in was a bag of flour not a baby - "I've been tricked!" - to his indefatigable sense of entitlement - shipwrecked on an inhabited island he names it Olafland and declares himself king.
Olaf is the triumph of wrong over right, cunning over intelligence. Olaf understands the power of the lowest common denominator and employs that base mathematics of stupidity to triumph (almost) time and again.
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This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again
The important thing to recognise here is that in a continued move to the meta that Patrick Rothfuss might admire (and even have studied) this is a story about stories.
In order that we not forget this fact/theme (a theme that, incidentally, is probably far too old/advanced for any reader of this series who didn't grow old reading it as it came out) Lemony provides us with essentially no answers to any of the many questions posed in the series.
That's right. You won't for example (view spoiler). Or be presented with the solution to many other puzzles teased throughout the series.
The big reveal is that the books may have stopped ... but the story doesn't. And that when the books started ... that wasn't the start of the story. We've just been afforded a view through a moving window and now the curtains are closing again.
That's not to say that interesting/amusing things don't happen, or that the bizarre altered-reality of the books doesn't saunter on in its usual style. The entire population of an island survive on drinking an alcoholic beverage and never touch water. Trained sheep drag any useful flotsam and jetsam to the far side of the island where nobody ever goes (though they all firmly believe it's an island...)
Count Olaf shines in this book. I particularly love the way he commits to his disguise despite everyone seeing through it. Also how he names the island Olaf-land and is dedicated to being acknowledged as its king.
The story addresses issues of leadership, group dynamics, rebellion etc ... some of it gets quite tedious if I'm honest, but knowing it's the last book gives a following wind that carries you on.
In the last section there are some moments which, by virtue of having spent 13 books in the company of the characters, can't help but be touching - and are.
The main problem for me is, having read all 13 of these books aloud to my disabled daughter, and having developed the perfect Count Olaf voice ... what the hell do I do with it now?
In conclusion I would say that this is an enjoyable series of books for children of a certain age and that if at any point you feel you've had enough of reading them ... just stop there...
All this aside - here is my answer to the following question, posed on this site as an "author question"
Who is your all time favorite villain of the fantasy genre?
- I'll have to go for Count Olaf. Having read all 13 books of the Series of Unfortunate Events to my daughter recently, I have developed the perfect Count Olaf voice and that, I feel, helps me understand the man.
The great thing about Count Olaf is how unabashedly 'all about me' he is. From his outrage on discovering that the thing he'd kicked a hole in was a bag of flour not a baby - "I've been tricked!" - to his indefatigable sense of entitlement - shipwrecked on an inhabited island he names it Olafland and declares himself king.
Olaf is the triumph of wrong over right, cunning over intelligence. Olaf understands the power of the lowest common denominator and employs that base mathematics of stupidity to triumph (almost) time and again.
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Join my 3-emails-a-year newsletter #prizes
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Finished Reading
January 19, 2015
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Jason
(new)
Jun 06, 2015 09:42AM
I read to my niece and have begun developing character voices...and now you have me concerned about my efforts and what will come of them once she's grown to old for my stellar Big Bad Wolf!
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As someone who read these books in grade school, I can say that one of my biggest disappointments was that the series ended up as a bowl of loose ties. I really wish things were tidied up a bit at the end, but I suppose life just doesn't work that way.
Hannah wrote: "As someone who read these books in grade school, I can say that one of my biggest disappointments was that the series ended up as a bowl of loose ties. I really wish things were tidied up a bit at the end, but I suppose life just doesn't work that way."Well, life doesn't but stories can and often do. A generous 4* if this was a disappointment. I both liked and didn't like the way he did it. I liked it because it was bold, new, and clever. I didn't like it because I wanted the opposite of what he did.
Do you have a favorite book from the series? I read them multiple times as a child and was so obsessed. Ersatz Elevator was always my favorite, for some reason!
Trystan wrote: "Do you have a favorite book from the series? I read them multiple times as a child and was so obsessed. Ersatz Elevator was always my favorite, for some reason!"Very hard to say. It would be one of the early ones though.
I was dissatisfied and only gave an ‘ok- 2 star’ rating. My daughter was non-plussed too.
Having read this in elementary school, I grew out of the stories by the time I finished The Slippery Slope (which if I remember correctly was the 10th book?) I did enjoy all of them at ages 11/12, have very fond memories of them, and have always wondered how it all ended. After reading this review and others I feel confident stopping when I did, knowing I really didn’t miss anything. (Same can be said for the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz, but that’s another story)That said, you should totally do Count Olaf skits or impersonations on YouTube, all the cool kids are doing it, and by cool kids I mean you.
